I was the keynote speaker for a Christian camp, but I don't remember what I spoke about that week. What I remember was what someone in attendance shared with me.
She had come to camp with her adult disabled daughter who needed constant care. She was from a well-respected family in the Christian community, but her world had begun to unravel. Her husband had recently left her for someone he had met online. The woman who had been her daughter's caregiver was dying. The landscape of her life had completely changed.
I can still see her standing in front of me as I prepared to speak that morning. She asked if she could share her thoughts with me. In a quiet and peaceful voice, she told me that during this turbulent time in her life that she continually meditated on Psalm 23. She told me that she had found rest for her soul meditating on the first three words of the Psalm, "The Lord is..."
During my own times of desperation, I have experienced the peace that this reality brings. It reminds me of what God told Moses to tell the people who were enslaved in Egypt. He said to tell Israel that, "I AM has sent you."(Exodus 3:14) The children of Israel were set free from Egypt so that they could learn to worship in the wilderness. It's in the wilderness that we discover the Lord who is the great I AM.
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah" (Psalm 46:1-3) Many Bible students believe that selah was a musical term that that meant to "pause" or "contemplate". When the flow of life is interrupted with harsh realities, we are invited to encounter the Lord who is...
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